the panda sews: an a-line skirt

the final installment of my sewing class was held today. i went in with 1 1/4 yards of fabric and a zipper, and five hours later, i left with a skirt.  it boggles my mind that i was able to make something i could actually wear.  dare i say, it's better quality than the clothes at old navy (though that's probably not saying very much).  we followed the amy butler barcelona a-line skirt pattern, and i chose a joel dewberry fabric called "floral fields" for my main fabric. i made a trim at the bottom, since i didn't really want to hem the bottom up (i didn't want the finished skirt to be any shorter). yippppeeee!  i definitely plan on making another skirt or two in the near future...

don't my knee caps look funny?

the panda sews: a chicken apron

my sister carrie has chickens & she loves the heck out of them, so as an early mother's day gift, i made her a chicken apron, using fabric from alexander henry's farmdale collection (i love the way the 'crosshatch sage' partners with the chickens! you can find it all over the 'net, but i was also surprised to see it at joann). i reinforced the pockets with some decor bond fusible interfacing, figuring she could fill them with chicken snacks. 

she's a fantastic mother to humans and chickens (and dogs and rabbits) and the most positively influential older sister a person could imagine.  i've never known anyone with a bigger heart. happy mother's day, carrie!i love you!

a sailor zipper pouch

i was really quite smitten with this sailor boy fabric i picked up at textile (it can also be found online at superbuzzy, which is my favorite place for all those cute japanese prints).  those lil' sailors are just so cute and tiny, with their miniature flags and sailboats and anchors.   since i only bought 1/4 yard and i wanted a quick-ish project to work on tonight, i decided to go with a zipper pouch. i lined it with a navy-with-white-polka-dot fabric i got at hancock fabrics.  the final bag ended up around 10" x 7", so now i just have to figure out what i'm going to use it for.

a mushroom totebag

i wanted to try something out from my lotta jansdotter's simple sewing book, so i made another tote bag.  i used the same natural-colored linen from the raindrop tote & a mushroom fabric i picked up at jo-ann. i'm not 100% happy with how this one turned out - the tote isn't lined (nor does it require interfacing for added stability), so it doesn't feel as strong as some of the other stuff i've made. and her method of sewing on the straps left some unsightly stitches (although this is totally my own fault. it definitely would've helped if i had used a green thread to match the fabric rather than the white).  i'll probably end up adding some sort of trim or ribbon to cover it up.  all in all, i had more success with this tote bag method.

on a side note, i found a crazy-good rowenta professional iron at the goodwill for $6.99 (refurbished/used ones still sell for $75), so that was a total score!  way better than my previous iron.

edit: a few weeks after i made this, i pulled out my "unsightly stitches" and re-did it. i am now officially 100% happy with the results.

linen tote bag w/ appliques

class was canceled AGAIN last saturday, so i've been doing quite a bit of home sewing over the past few weeks. i made a few aprons and have toyed with the idea of opening up an etsy shop. in my "ideal fantasy" world, this would give me some extra funds i could use toward fabric-buying (wait, i guess in my ideal fantasy, i'd already have enough money to buy tons and tons of fabric...and i'd live on a beach.)  but it's still an idea at this point - i'd like to get a bit of an inventory built up- so stay tuned for updates. i guess i want to make sure i'm 100% satisfied with my product. 

i wanted to work on something else yesterday, and this tutorial really caught my eye (linen! little raindrops!) plus it would give me a chance to learn a few new things (sewing with linen & making appliques).

notes:

• this is one of the best tutorials i've ever seen online - helpful pictures, easy-to-follow directions, etc.
• seriously, be patient sewing the appliques, esp. the tiny raindrops. i used the hand-crank (she offers this advice in a different tutorial: When sewing around smaller, tighter curves or circles: I sew these in a very slow and methodical way, sometimes just a stitch or two at a time if necessary. I’ll sew one or two stitches, then, with the needle in the down position, lift up the presser foot, turn the fabric slightly, then put the presser foot back down and go another stitch or two. Sometimes I’ll even just use the hand wheel on the side of the machine to move the needle to avoid accidentally shooting ahead a few stitches with the foot pedal. I’ll repeat this process typically for just the tightest part of the curve, and get back to a normal speed whenever I can. 
• full disclosure: the brown cloud is actually covering up my first botched applique attempt. same with the lightest-colored raindrop.  i was able to create slightly bigger versions and go over my 'mistakes'.  i tried hand-sewing them too, but it looked too sloppy.
• i love the look of natural-colored linen, but it sure is wrinkly.
• i can't hear the word "applique" without thinking of this song.  "designer jeans with appliques on it"  

edit: i added a trim to the top. here's what it looks like now:

a big tote bag

when last we met, i had begun work on a tote bag in my sewing class. the next class ended up being postponed because the air conditioner wasn't working (and on an 85 degree day in a 2nd floor old house, you really need A/C...) but we were back on track on the 16th and i finished up the bag:

i chose a deep purple, floral fabric (to counteract all that cute animal stuff i'd been using, i suppose).  it's lined in aqua and has 2 big pockets, with some little pockets sewn onto the big ones (see photo below).  the bag could be reversible, but i sewed down the corners (much like i did for the produce bag) to add some depth. all and all, i'm very pleased with it.

"inside" of the bag

i've also been making some more wallets. i did a cute tree one for my good ol' buddy liz (didn't snap a picture)...and this rooster one:

 my fabric stash is getting slightly out of hand:

our final class is the 23rd...skirt!  in the meantime, i need to figure out if i'm going to take sewing 102 or quilting 101...

zipper pouches

during last week's class, we made a zipper pouch. i used an awesome animal print (tiger! octopus! chicken! elephant! they have eyelashes & they're all hanging out on the same fabric!) and lined it with a brown w/ white polka-dot print. i felt really discombobulated and out-of-sorts during class, and ended up messing up my zipper piece 3 times (we sew a little piece of fabric to the ends of the zipper) AND i measured the fabric wrong for my size zipper. my zipper foot for the machine was a little wonky, so that played a (small) part in my error(s), but 99% of it was my fault.  and when i finally finished it, i realized i had sewn the fabric too close to the zipper and it didn't zip all the way open. boo. definitely not my proudest day. (side note: the next day, i got a migraine, so at least there was a reason i felt like a pyschopath).

l-r: carrie, courtney, katie. zipper pouches for sisters three! 

i decided to not let the day's failures prevent me from trying again, so i made 2 more pouches for my sisters. everything went swimmingly. the purple spotted fabric is carrie's (i lined it with a solid plum purple) and the panda/pig one is courtney's (lined with brown w/ white polka dots).  everything went really well making those two, so i decided to re-do my own animal pouch. more trouble!   (i'm beginning to think that fabric is cursed, but then again, it was 1am at that point). i finally wound up with something i'm proud of.

last night, my pal/classmate julia & i wanted some more practice before today's class, so after eating and playing some ms pac man at her house (they have many arcade video game machines!!!), i made this for my mother-in-law. it's lined with plain navy blue & has a grey zipper:

today's class was spent measuring out all the fabric for a tote bag, which we'll complete next week...